Double the stylus for double the fun, the R.A.K.E. allows you to drop simultaneously into two different grooves on the same record. Created by Randal Clayton (aka SaxManRan and DJ HornSolo) and friends from Dallas, Texas, the double stylus has been making it’s rounds among DJ sets including those by Questlove, Ghost, and DJ Spiderman. Hey Scratch DJ’s – don’t drool on the blog. Visit R.A.K.E.‘s dedicated page for all the ooos and ahhs.
Check out this video: The R.A.K.E. with Ghost TTM56
In other news, Mediatech Institute has recently announced that a Turntablism 101 class is being added to the course catelog for the Fall semester. Drop in at www.mediatechinstitute.com for more details.
About five years ago, I made my way through a crowded venue to score a good viewing spot at the Tortoise show. Being that the band had somewhat of an eclectic following, I expected the opening act to fall far from what would be considered mainstream. But during this particular show, the openers took the stage with only a fold-out table and two laptops.
I am a geek for the evolution of live music, but watching two people sit in sedation in front of a crowd of thousands seemed near criminal for a live setting. As much as I tried to focus my attention of the abstract sounds that took over the venue’s sound system, I couldn’t stop wondering if the duo was simply pressing the “play” button and nodding their heads in unison while sharing a online game of solitaire. Even if they were actually queuing up sampled loops, was that really a performance? Needless to say, I wasn’t very impressed. From that point forward my perception of the laptop performance would forever be skewed.
Flash forward to five years later and you’ll find a slew of software applications that make the laptop one of the most versatile instruments available on the market. Programs like Abelton Live, Reason, Traktor Scratch, and Serato Itch provide artists with live performance tools that rival the now seemingly antiquated two turntables and a microphone set-up.
Five years after first witnessing the awkward laptop performance during the Tortoise show, the evolution of digital music has found itself seated on the stage of New York’s famed Carnegie Hall. Eight students of Princeton University’s Princeton Laptop Orchestra (aka PLOrk) recently joined the American Composers Orchetra for a debut demonstration of a laptop performance that works.
Check out the PLOrk rehearsal footage, lead by composer Dan Trueman:
Filed under: Gear, Sound Innovation | Tags: Gear, instruments, modular synths, music innovation
The reaTable is a table-top electronic music intstrument was created by a team of developers at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, Spain. The instrument works by allowing physical objects to take on the roles of various modular synthesizer components on a luminous table surface. Single or multiple users can control generators, filters and modulators to collaborate on original electronic compositions on the fly.
See it in action during Bjork’s set during the song Pluto during the 2007 Coachella music festival:
Thanks to Cam at Mediatech for the sweet video find.
